Mural Series: Last One: Islington, Ontario
By artist John Kunthis 2007, this Village of Islington mural, titled Riding the Radials, is located on the east wall of the building at 5110 Dundas Street West. The accompanying plaque for this mural says:
Coordinates: 43.644802 -79.532696
Map
From 1917 to 1931 the old Guelph Radial Line, that ran behind this site, linked communities from Lambton Mills to Guelph. Forerunners of today's electric streetcars, radial trains were so named because they "radiated" from the city centre outwards to neighbouring towns and villages. Long before the construction of provincial highways, radial lines were part of a transportation network that facilitated the integration of communities such as Islington into what is now the Greater Toronto Region.
To evoke feelings of nostalgia, artist John Kuna used a painterly style recalling old coloured postcards and turn of the century paintings. Note how the radial masts are painted so as to form part of the adjacent building to convey a sense that the train is presently docked at station before carrying passengers onwards to their destination.
Mural Series: Last One: Islington, Ontario
By artist John Kunthis 2007, this Village of Islington mural, titled Riding the Radials, is located on the east wall of the building at 5110 Dundas Street West. The accompanying plaque for this mural says:
Coordinates: 43.644802 -79.532696
Map
From 1917 to 1931 the old Guelph Radial Line, that ran behind this site, linked communities from Lambton Mills to Guelph. Forerunners of today's electric streetcars, radial trains were so named because they "radiated" from the city centre outwards to neighbouring towns and villages. Long before the construction of provincial highways, radial lines were part of a transportation network that facilitated the integration of communities such as Islington into what is now the Greater Toronto Region.
To evoke feelings of nostalgia, artist John Kuna used a painterly style recalling old coloured postcards and turn of the century paintings. Note how the radial masts are painted so as to form part of the adjacent building to convey a sense that the train is presently docked at station before carrying passengers onwards to their destination.